By Jonathan Elkins
When I was 18 years old and a senior year in high school, I was weighing close to 400 pounds. I was inactive and eating nearly six meals a day, every day. By the time I came to college, I managed to cut my weight down to 330 pounds. Walking around my neighborhood occasionally and eating less helped me shed the weight, and it wasn’t until I was a junior in college that I actually started working out in a gym. A stressful transition, I hadn’t lifted weights since I was a freshman in high school for P.E. Later, I found that I wasn’t the only person to go into the gym having no idea what I was doing. After several years of consistent exercise, I have a few tips for those looking to start working out, or for those trying to get back into it:
- Have a plan going in.
There are loads of free workout plans available online. Depending on your goals and expertise, these may vary. Doing research and finding a plan that’s right for you is a great start. You can also look up individual exercises if you are unfamiliar with something you find on your exercise plan. - Be considerate of others in the gym.
There are easy steps to take that will make you a model gym-goer. Put away your equipment after you are finished and if you can, wipe down any machines you use. As a warm-natured guy, I tend to wipe down every machine I use out of courtesy for everyone else. You will also need to be patient in trying to access certain machines or equipment. Depending on the gym, the machinery you need to perform your exercise might be in use. You need to be prepared to swap with someone in between sets or wait until that area is free. If you are going to use an area when the gym is busy, make sure to do what you need to and get moving. The same way you wouldn’t want to wait on others, don’t make them wait on you unnecessarily. - Exercising doesn’t give you a free pass to eat junk food.
I was under the impression that working out gave me an excuse to make that extra trip to Taco Bell or order pizza after a long day. I found out the hard way that unless you are exercising for three to four hours a day, you probably will not be able to get away with eating whatever you want. However, you don’t need to worry about having a strict diet right away. Take small steps to improve your diet over time, as it is far safer and healthier than restrictive diets. MyFitnessPal is a great tool for tracking your food and working at eating better. - Consistency is key.
Working out and eating well only works if you really try to make that your new normal. Training like an animal and eating perfectly twice a week will not get you the same results as moderate exercise and making healthy choices all week. You don’t have to be perfect in either your training or your diet but making a genuine effort to make the right choices and being prepared for failures is what really matters.
The gym shouldn’t be a scary place. If you are aware of your surroundings and are considerate of others, it should be a great place to make friends and build the healthier version of you. Focus on the small victories you achieve each day and use them as fuel to keep pushing yourself; this whole process should be enjoyable, not something you dread.
